Packaging for shipping plants

ABSTRACT

A cardboard container for shipping a potted plant is provided. The cardboard container includes a first cardboard blank bent to shape to form a pot tray. The pot tray includes a floor for supporting a plant pot, and a plurality of walls extending upward from the floor and at least partially surrounding the plant pot, wherein the walls are bent to cover at least a portion of an upper surface of the plant pot. One or more rails are beneath the floor. A second cardboard blank is bent to shape to form an outside box surrounding the potted plant and the first cardboard blank for shipment thereof, wherein the one or more rails contacts a lower surface of the outside box such that the floor and the plant pot are elevated from the lower surface of the outside box.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/656,609 filed Apr. 12, 2018, the disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to packaging of plants for shipping. In moreparticular embodiments, this disclosure relates to a soil retentionsystem and packaging concept for enabling potted plants to be shippedwhile supporting the root system and preventing loose soil duringshipping.

BACKGROUND

Online purchasing and shipping outlets are growing exponentially. Moreand more, people are buying a majority of their items online, fromhousehold items, to gifts, and even groceries. However, potted plantsare still typically sold in brick-and-mortar storefronts. For example,if one were to purchase a potted plant online and have it shipped totheir home, the purchaser might be disappointed at the amount of soilthat became dislodged during shipping, the leaves or flowers beingdamaged, and other potential hazards associated with the turbulence ofshipping.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The attached documents and Figures detail the packaging surrounding andsupporting a potted plant for shipping.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of retained soil for shipment, a potted plant,and an associated packaging, in perspective view, for shipping thepotted plant.

FIG. 2A shows a plan view of a single or one-piece blank of paperboard,cardboard, or similar material which is suitably cut and provided withhinge lines (dashed) to form the outer box for shipping a potted plant,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2B shows a plan view of a single or one-piece blank of paperboard,cardboard, or similar material which is suitably cut and provided withhinge lines (dashed) to form a pot tray to be contained within the outerbox for supporting the potted plant within the outer box, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 2C is a plan view of a single or one-piece blank of paperboard,cardboard, or similar material which is suitably cut and provided withhinge lines (dashed) to form a layer of insulation to help insulate theshipped plant during cold weather, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an assembled but open outer box with the pottray for supporting a potted plant for shipment, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 shows steps of forming the pot tray out of the blank of FIG. 2B,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows steps of forming the outer box and finalizing the assemblyof the outer box and pot tray with honeycomb insulation, according toone embodiment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show a front cross-sectional and top view, respectively,of an assembled outer box with pot tray, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show a top and cross-sectional view, respectively, ofsupporting the pot tray according to one embodiment in which honeycombinsulation is used.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a top and cross-sectional view, respectively, ofsupporting the pot tray according to another embodiment in which apop-in corner method is used to improve airflow and help preventoverheating, in which the corners of the outer box are pressed incertain locations.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a top and cross-sectional view, respectively, ofsupporting the pot tray according to another embodiment in which asticky block method is used for heavier pots, in which honeycombcorrugate blocks are adhered to the outer box and used to hold down thepot tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

Various embodiments are disclosed herein which allow a potted plant tobe shipped while reducing any potential damage to the plant due to theshipping. Also, the packaging systems described herein prevent theplant's soil from coming loose during shipment. This can be done withoutany shrink-wrap or cellophane surrounding the plant, which can beharmful to the plant. This allows a customer to simply open the box andpull out the plant without cutting or otherwise removing suffocatingmaterial surrounding the plant or soil.

In one embodiment of soil-retention, a plant is placed in soil, and thenthe soil is surrounded with a soil-and-binder combination. The bindermay be a binding material (e.g., water and an emulsion) that infuseswith the soil to keep the soil tightly packed. The soil-and-bindercombination creates a shell that is much harder and denser than theenclosed soil. As shown in the bottom picture in FIG. 1, the plant maybe immediately and directly surrounded by normal soil. Then, directlyand immediately surrounding the soil is the soil-and-binder combination.This creates a shell of soil and binder around the interior soil,properly containing the soil for shipment. This prevents or inhibitssoil from coming dislodged during shipment.

FIGS. 2A-2C show the outer box, the pot tray, and the honeycombinsulation before being formed into their final shape, which will bedescribed below and as shown in FIGS. 4-5.

FIG. 4 shows an assembly method of forming the pot tray which surroundsand supports the pot of the potted plant during shipment, according toone embodiment. First, the user is provided with a blank of the pottray. The upper part of the blank is folded inward on either side, thenrotated and tilted into place, as shown. This creates triangularsupports that extend upward and transverse from the remainder of theblank. This is repeated on the other side of the blank. The plant can beplaced in the center. Then, both sides can be tilted to cover the plant.The four triangular supports now surround the pot from four areas. Thesides can be taped on either side of the plant over the edges.

The last two pictures of FIG. 4 show side rails that may be formed byfolding inwardly and attaching through apertures in the blank. The siderails are folded downwardly instead of upwardly, to create side railsthat elevate the pot tray from the underlying surface. The side railsprovide longitudinal support for the assembled package.

FIG. 5 shows the assembly of the outer box. One longitudinal side of thebox can be taped, and flipped over. The honeycomb lay-in can be set intothe box, extending along the length of the box. The potted plant withthe attached pot tray is placed into the box with the rails contactingthe bottom of the box and the honeycomb sides pushed to the top edge ofthe box above the top surface of the pot trey. A separate saucer can beslid into the box beneath the pot trey between the rails.

The packaging concepts disclosed herein allow the potted plants toremain in-tact, while retaining soil without the need to shrink-wrap aplant for shipping, which can be harmful to the plant.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cardboard container for shipping a pottedplant, the cardboard container comprising: a first cardboard blank bentto shape to form a pot tray including: a floor for supporting a plantpot, a plurality of walls extending upward from the floor and at leastpartially surrounding the plant pot, wherein the walls are bent to coverat least a portion of an upper surface of the plant pot, and one or morerails beneath the floor, and a second cardboard blank bent to shape toform an outside box surrounding the potted plant and the first cardboardblank for shipment thereof, wherein the one or more rails contacts alower surface of the outside box such that the floor and the plant potare elevated from the lower surface of the outside box.
 2. A pot trayfor supporting a potted plant, the pot tray comprising: a floor forsupporting a plant pot; a plurality of walls extending upward from thefloor and at least partially surrounding the plant pot; one or morerails beneath the floor configured to contact an underlying surface of ashipment container such that the floor and the plant pot are elevatedfrom the underlying surface during shipping.
 3. The pot tray of claim 2,wherein the floor, the plurality of walls, and the one or more rails areall part of a continuous cardboard material.
 4. The pot tray of claim 2,wherein the floor, the plurality of walls, and the one or more rails areall bent from a single cardboard blank.
 5. The pot tray of claim 2,wherein the floor includes one or more apertures configured to receiveone or more tabs extending from the one or more rails to maintain theshape of the one or more rails.